Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Provide Over $50 Million to Advance Cancer Research and Treatment at NYU Langone Medical Center

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January 29, 2014 (8:15AM)

NYU Langone Medical Center today announced it received an initial gift in excess of $50 million from Laura and Isaac Perlmutter and the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Foundation Inc. to advance cancer research and treatment. As part of the gift, NYU Langone has renamed the NYU Cancer Institute – a National Cancer Institute–designated cancer center – the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone. Prior to their current pledge, the Perlmutters contributed over $8 million in support of NYU Langone.

“For three decades Laurie and Ike have, with generosity and foresight, supported our programs,” said NYU Langone dean and CEO Robert I. Grossman, MD. “Now, this recent gift will allow the Medical Center’s already world-class cancer care, research, and education programs to become truly integrated across all disciplines, regardless of their physical locations within our growing care network. Their gift ensures that all facilities embraced by the new Perlmutter Cancer Center will have a dynamic infrastructure in place to strengthen the bridges between our scientists and clinicians. The naming of the Perlmutter Cancer Center is a tribute to our Super Hero supporters for their tireless efforts on behalf of our institution.”

The Perlmutters’ gift, which is the first in a larger commitment to NYU Langone, will enable even greater program coordination, foster new synergies, and unite cancer research, patient care, and education around the singular focus of producing better outcomes for patients. It will also be used to attract and retain nationally recognized physicians and scientists, and to enhance cancer research, diagnosis, and treatment, as well as the education of the next generation of clinical and scientific leaders at NYU School of Medicine. Perlmutter Cancer Center’s clinicians and scientists will work to increase understandings about how cancer develops, progresses, and sometimes eludes currently available treatments, in an effort to minimize the burden of the disease in the community, the nation, and around the world.

“Laurie and Ike’s commitment to the Perlmutter Cancer Center will have a transformational impact on the entire field,” said Dr. Grossman.

“Our scientists and clinical researchers have made important contributions to the knowledge about the genetic and biochemical mechanisms by which cancer arises and behaves,” said Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD, senior vice president and vice dean for science, and chief scientific officer at NYU School of Medicine. “We are now at a moment in history when there are great opportunities to make bold advances in cancer research. Simultaneously, the research community as a whole faces extreme challenges, contending with plunging national research budget cuts. The generosity of the Perlmutters at this critical time will allow us to continue to focus on the prevention and treatment of cancer and realize the full potential of the extraordinary research that goes on at NYU Langone.”

Mrs. Perlmutter has been a member of the NYU Langone community for more than 30 years, starting as a women’s auxiliary volunteer in the hospital’s gift shop, later becoming president of the Tisch Hospital Auxiliary from 1985 to 1992. She has also been a member of NYU Langone’s board of trustees since 1985, and of the Cancer Advisory Board since 2005.

Mr. Perlmutter is the chairman of Marvel Entertainment, one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies. He was, until that company’s acquisition by The Walt Disney Company in 2009, Marvel’s CEO and its largest stockholder. Mr. Perlmutter was recently named to NYU Langone’s board of trustees.

The Perlmutters' interest in elevating their commitment to NYU Langone originated through briefings by Ken Langone and Lori and Larry Fink, who showcased the Center’s research and potential impact on cancer treatment. Lori Fink serves as the chair of the Cancer Advisory Board and Larry Fink is the vice-chair of the board of trustees.

“We are longtime supporters of the Medical Center, but the transformation of NYU Langone under the leadership of Dr. Grossman and of Ken Langone and Larry Fink, drove us to consider a much more significant level of support,” said Mrs. Perlmutter. “Both Larry and particularly Lori Fink, brought our attention to NYU Langone’s state-of-the-art advances in cancer research and treatment, and how a significant gift such as ours can catalyze even more dramatic results for the Center and the research community at large.